More than three weeks before the season opener, Bears nickel cornerback Buster Skrine can’t wait.
“What is it, 23 days? I’m ready,” Skrine said after Tuesday’s practice at Halas Hall. “This is the time in training camp where it’s like, ‘Ah, let’s just play somebody else.’”
This used to be the time of year where NFL starters actually would play somebody else — it was kind of the point of playing preseason games. But this is 2019, and the preseason is devolving into one giant evaluation of the bottom half of the roster. The object of preseason games no longer is to prepare your starters for the regular season, but to get them to the regular season healthy.